Improvement in india-rubber tooth-brush



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SAMUEL, WARD'FRANCIS, OF YORK, N. Y.

Letters Patent No. 92,298, lated July 6, 1869.

IMPROVEMENT 1N INDIA-RUBBER Toom-BRUSH?.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent' and making part of thaame.

To whom it may concern Be it known that 1, SAMUEL WARD FRANCIS, ,of

The nature of my invention consist-s in making a tooth-brush of what is known as rubber-sponge, in lieu of the bristles of which it is ordinarily formed.

lThis material, while having the cellular formation and porosity of sponge, possesses anl inherent lelasticity which ordinary sponge cannot have, and which ts it admirably for the uses herein specified. Moreover, it is not affected-by water, or acid, or alkaline liquids, as is well known, and its yielding aswell as elastic properties, enable it to lit around and come in close contact with the teeth, so as to remove all impurities.

No hairs can come oi' from it, as frequently happens when a bristle-brush is employed, nor does it push back, or cut or injure the gums, as the latter brush is liable to do. And -it thusv possesses al1 the requisites to adapt it to be used for tooth-cleansing purposes.

In the drawings, I have represented' the rubbersponge A, applied to an ordinary handle, B.

The sponge is formed on arubber sheet, which may be held to the handle by wires, in the manner usually employed iu ordinary tooth-brushes, or other known means may be employed with' equally good effect, my

invention consisting, not in the manner of attaching the sponge, but in the use of the material itself, for the purpose named.

The sponge may, lf'or instance, be cemented to the handle, or it' the handle be made of hard rubber, the

-two compositions of which the article lis to be-"eomposed, may be shaped and put together while in the plastic state, and afterwards vulcanized, so as to be solidly united.

The brush may be of any ordinary orlsuitable shape, and the face of the sponge may be notched or corru-A gatedas seen in ordinary bristle brushes; and any va'.- riation in its size or formation can be made as circumstances require.

Having now described my invent-ion and the manner in which the same is or may be carried into effect,

What I claim, and desire to secure byLetters Pat-- ent, is-

A tooth-brush, made of vulcanized-rubberl sponge,

`substantially as herein described.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specication, before two subscribing witnesses. SAML. W. FRANCIS. Witnesses:

Tao. SADLER, v Trios. SADL'ER HnsLAP; 

